Navy Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Smashing the Glass

Natalya & Alex | Wine-themed ‘vintage glam’ Jewish wedding at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards, Sonoma, California

26/08/2014 by Karen

Oh my! I have a sneaking suspicion that you are going to fall in love with this morning’s California vineyard wedding. To Natalya and Alex (both originally from Russia), their big day was particularly special to them, as their parents didn’t get a chance to get married in a traditional Jewish ceremony, under a chuppah, in the former Soviet Union.

Natalya is BEAUTIFUL with delicious bridal accessories to match — I mean you just can’t help but gawp at her super sparkly Jimmy Choo shoes and that divine necklace on her bare back.

It’s s perhaps one of the most eloquently executed themed wedding I’ve seen on these pages from the grapevine-themed stationery to the wine bottle cork place cards to the olive oil favours. I also love all the vintage-glam touches, particularly the EPIC portrait shots by in that super sexy 1962 Buick Electra .

Also, I must add that I love that Natalya’s niece wrote her toast on Jenga pieces, as Natalya and Alex met playing Jenga…

OK enough from me, take it away you gorgeous pair!

A BEAUTIFUL VINEYARD VENUE
Natalya, the Bride: Our wedding was in Sonoma, CA at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. We knew we wanted to get married in the wine country. It is a place we love coming to any time of year. We also wanted our guests to have a relaxing weekend with us away from the busy city life. As our wedding was in April, we chose a venue with options for both indoor and outdoor events. The building at Jacuzzi Winery is beautiful from an architectural standpoint, and the property has what seems like a never-ending vineyard in the back.

Tali & Dan | ‘Gin in teacups’ 1920’s Jewish Wedding at Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, UK

16/06/2014 by Karen

Blake Ezra, one of our Smashing Suppliers, always captures bucket loads of love and emotion in his wonderful photography, and this is most definitely true of Tali and Dan’s big day which I’m beyond excited to be featuring on the blog today.

This stylish pair were married at Heatherden Hall at the legendary Pinewood Studios, just outside London, and this has got to be one of the most iconic wedding venues to have yet graced the pages of STG. Pinewood has been home to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows, commercials and pop promos but is most famous as the home of the Carry On, Superman, James Bond and Harry Potter film series. What a perfect venue for film buffs!

Despite the fantastically cool venue, this wedding is all about the people — you can see joy in every singe image, and Blake Ezra tells me that, “there was a massive emphasis on friends throughout the day with their big crowd of amazing mates getting involved in all aspects of the ceremony, music and general entertainment.”

You can really see the fun factor complete with comedy DJs, barber shop routines, drum circles, dancing, a fire show (and a very moving ceremony) in the wedding film by the uber-talented Charlotte Armitage right at the end of the post.

Tali’s bridal style is to die for… I am expecting plenty of pinterest action for her vintage dress which incidentally was made entirely out of sustainable and ecological fabrics.

And lastly I must mention that Dan, who is a journalist, recorded a message to Tali from Boris Johnson as part of his speech (see 10:38 in the film at the bottom of the post). I’m a big Boris fan — that’s immense!

So come and have a look at this gorgeous ‘I Do’ jointly narrated by the bride and groom.

VENUE
Tali, the Bride, and Dan, the Groom: Tali and I chose to get married at Pinewood Studios in Gerard’s Cross. We wanted a ‘London’ wedding so it was accessible for elderly family and all our friends, and Pinewood had indoor and outdoor space, was very cool, and they allowed us to do whatever we wanted.

Gabby & Gareth | Super-stylish and relaxed Jewish wedding at Katathani Beach Resort, Phuket, Thailand

03/06/2014 by Karen

This afternoon we are off to Thailand! I’m not exaggerating when I say that this wedding totally and utterly takes my breath away. The incredible natural scenery, the use of light, the feeling of warmth and joy that radiates from Hilary Cam’s delicious imagery… it’s all so very stylish yet wonderfully informal.

Gabby’s bridal style and her mermaid-esque colour palette of turquoise,navy, purple and lime green are a dream, and there are lots of lovely personal touches to be inspired by too. My favourite is that at each table the couple placed an extra two chairs so that they could actually sit and eat or drink up close and personal with everyone of their guests. I’ve not heard of that before and I think it’s a really lovely idea.

Gabby and Gareth met over 13 years ago at a house party in Sydney, Australia. She was on holiday from South Africa and they both new as soon as they set eyes on each other that they had met their match. Gabby says. “Gareth always tells me as soon as he saw me walk through the door he knew I was the one. I went back to South Africa and we kept in contact until I eventually immigrated a year later.”

Why not pour yourself a cup of Asian tea and savour this gorgeous W-day… oh and if you’re a destination bride-to-be, make sure you take in Gabby’s excellent device right at the end.

A ‘HOLIDAY’ VENUE AND A SENSE OF RELAXATION
Our wedding was at the Katathani Beach Resort in Phuket Thailand. We chose this destination for a few reasons. One being we both are originally from South Africa and still have lots of family and friends there. We also have family and friends in the UK, US and Israel. We wanted to be able to not only share our magical day with them but thought it would be an amazing opportunity to get people together who haven’t seen each other in years and have a holiday at the same time.

We wanted it to be relaxed like the beautiful surroundings and in terms of a colour scheme I took inspiration from my bridesmaids dresses (turquoise,navy, purple and lime green)

Cheryl & Ernest | Super-special + meaningful Jewish wedding at The Long Center, Austin, Texas, USA

13/05/2014 by Karen

Sometimes I think we forget that a wedding is about more than just the Bride and Groom. Weddings are also about two families coming together; the start of a new generation — but also about appreciating the older generation who have loved you and supported you through the good and the bad times.

Cheryl and Ernest’s wedding is a real celebration of that. Their chuppah (pictured above — and isn’t it one of the most beautiful you’ve ever clapped eyes on?) is the most meaningful and moving one I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen many! It’s a tribute to Cheryl’s mother who tragically passed away just as Cheryl and Ernest were embarking on their wedding planning, and it’s exquisitely made out of Cheryl’s mother’s clothes and other momentous pieces including her grandmother’s wedding dress and a shirt her mum had kept of her grandfather’s after he had died.

How special is that?

I also have to mention that they dreamed up a brilliant idea for their ‘conversation starter’ escort cards — scroll down to see what I’m talking about — in fact these two made sure that they spoilt their guests with little treats here and there throughout their entire celebration ensuring that everyone had a day to remember.

Enough of me, I’m going to hand over to our gorgeous Bride, Cheryl, and the fabulous images of Daniel C. Photography, and let you lovelies experience this heart-warming, life-affirming, hearty big day for yourselves.

Steph & Juls | Boho English Country Garden Jewish Wedding, Narborough Hall, Norfolk

30/12/2013 by Karen

When I knew I’d be blogging this beauty of a wedding I whooped, hollered and clapped my hands with glee… Its filled with so many wonderful details, and the bride, Steph describes it all so beautifully.

It’s set in the depths of the Norfolk countryside at the resplendent garden venue that is Narborough Hall, and it’s full of creative details, fashion-inspired touches, and an achingly chic bride and groom ( well they do both work in fashion industry – in fact that’s how they met, but more about that later on).

Now not only do we have the delights of photographer extraordinaire, Katherine Ashdown, but we also have a wonderful film of this wedding included in the post, by the awesome Sugarfish.

You guys are in for a treat. Seriously. this wedding is a dream.

VENUE
Steph, the Bride: I fell in love with Narborough Hall as soon as I saw it… somewhere where we could feel at home, and relaxed. We were originally going to get married in Ibiza, but my family are farmers, so they couldn’t be away from the crops and the animals for any long amount of time, not to mention that my grandad wouldn’t be able to travel that far..

Narborough ticked all the boxes in terms of being a bit boho and absolutely beautiful, and somehow really tranquil and fun.. not at all stiff or pompous.

The fact that the flowers could all be sourced from Narborough’s own gardens also made it feel very natural and not ‘plastic’ or put on.

THEME
I sort of toyed around with loads of magazine tears and ideas from the internet..The problem was that trend seemed to be for kitsch, hand made, english country wedding, and although I love all that, I didn’t want our wedding to look like it had been taken straight out of someone else’s wedding shoot or too ‘theme’ wedding rather than my wedding..

So I began to look at films and other inspirations and found some fantastic images of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and that kind of era, mixed with a bit of faded English glamour and tarnished jewels became the background theme.

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